The College Essay
Where are you in the process? Help us help you by identifying your place in the process. If you are having problems starting a draft, pretend that you are writing to a friend the answer to any of the college essay topics. This act might help you start the process because you will open naturally to a friend the true, sincere content of your essay.
Listen to some suggestions from our senior tutors:
Laura Ebbeling Jeff Dressler Laura Ebbeling Emily Ku Alyssa MacMeekin Elizabeth Michaels Sarah Loy Alex Vinograd
Great links to help with the brainstorming process
This site will help show you different stages of the college essay and will also emphasize the need to work through many drafts in order to create a good college essay.
http://www.petersons.com/ugrad/application.html
Similar to the essays that you write for your English course, you must submit a well written essay. Unlike the analytical essays that you have been writing in class, however, the college essay sometimes emphasizes and contains different ingredients. Read some quality college essays to help get a better idea. The following competition occurred last Spring. Enjoy reading some award winning, sincere essays. When you finish, brainstorm ways and ideas that will help you discover your own voice.
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/mar/010326.essays.html
Click here to sample some college essay notes from my friend, Krista Colthup, who is the Director of College Counseling at King & Low-Heywood Thomas School. Notice how all of the advice about writing a college essay follows certain patterns of any personal narrative.
College Essay Tips
*This is a moment in time to illustrate you - show and do not tell about yourself*
Guidelines for getting started:
1. Get in the mood and brainstorm for topics and then narrow and focus your ideas. Do not allow procrastination and anxiety to take over. You cannot edit material that is not yet written.
2. Organize your thoughts and write, at first paying more attention to content and less to form.
3. Do not allow a big event to stand alone. It is very tedious to read an itinerary of a student's high school trip to France. Relaying how an even had affected, inspired, or changed your is far more revealing and impressive.
A well constructed essay is defined by:
1. Have strong mechanics - accurate punctuation and grammar, good organization, and clarity, concise.
2. Write several drafts - admission committees can spot and essay which has been hastily written just as they can appreciate one that has been carefully drafted.
3. A good essay will tell admission committees what you want them to know about yourself ie.) great sense of humor, truly political, deeply religious. Let your passion shine through in whatever question you are answering!)
Key ideas in an essay:
1. Make it attention grabbing.
2. Get to the point.
3. The voice is clearly the writer's.
4. It has an appropriate tone.
5. It is personal.
6. It is well organized and flows.
7. The topic clearly interests the writer.
8. It does not necessarily have to be about the writer but can illustrate the writer through someone or something else.
9. Uses words as if they are being spoken in order to capture the moment.
10. Uses varied sentence structure ie.) poetic rhythm. Do not get stuck with "i"sland fever.
11. Uses anecdotes well.
12. Uses vocabulary to communicate and not overwhelm - do not over use the thesaurus.
13. Leaves the reader thinking or wondering what is next? There is no need to tie an essay up with a "neat bow."
Essays are considered poorly written if:
1. They do not answer the question.
2. They have not been proofread.
3. They are over dramatized.
4. They have the wrong tone or inappropriate humor.
5. They consist of overused "hot topics"
6. The writer does not write about them self.
7. The thesaurus is overused.
8. It is too creative.
9. The writer obviously tries too hard.